Rajpal Yadav Recalls When 5 Lakh People Screamed His Name During a Shoot for Shool and the Crew Was Surprised

Rajpal Yadav talks about the time he was in Bihar to shoot for Shool and the crowd screamed out his name, and the crew was totally taken by surprise.

Written by: Arjita Gupta

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: June 02, 2023

Rajpal Yadav may have had a sluggish start in the film industry, but when he played the lead in Mungeri Ke Bhai Naurangilal, a Doordarshan show by Prakash Jha in the late 1990s. For Rajpal, it was his first taste of stardom. The program, which began as a follow-up to Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne, became a national sensation, especially in communities where satellite television predominated at the time. The actor was enrolled for a one-scene part in the 1999 movie Shool then, and he ended up in the Bihar-set drama Bettiah alongside Raveena Tandon and Manoj Bajpayee.

Five lakh people showed up to see the shoot, and police from 15 stations were sent out to ensure their safety, according to Rajpal. The crowd went wild when they saw Manoj and Raveena because they were both already well-known actors at the time because of their roles in the Satya movie and Manoj's Bhikhu Mhatre. But to everyone's surprise, as soon as they noticed Rajpal, the throng began yelling "Naurangi." He told, "Everyone chanted 'Naurangi' as soon as I came down. People in the unit were enquiring, "Who is Naurangi? The people are yelling "Naurangi!" Everyone heard Manoj Bhai say, "He is Naurangi."

Rajpal revealed that the team did not know he was well-known because they were mostly from Mumbai and had not watched the show. Rajpal said that Prakash Jha had chosen him for the role because he resembled Raghubir Yadav, the actor who originated the character of Mungerilal in the first series. He learned about Rajpal, who is a National School of Drama alumnus when he was determining his cast by asking around at the school.

Manoj had earlier narrated an incident that occurred on the set of Shool in Bettiah. The actor had said that there was a huge crowd and he felt it could lead to a riot if the barricade would have given away and people would come inside because at that time, Raveena Tandon was at the top and a superstar. In fact, even the actor’s father had come to see her. Manoj also talked about Rajpal and said that the following two takes by Rajpal Yadav, Raveena and he was impressed and shocked.